The Georgia regiment you left in garrison there has been driven out and without support is marching northward.

I have here, sir, a dispatch from Colonel Connor, the commander of the Georgians." He handed the folded paper to the general, who received it but did not open it for a moment.

There was something halfway between a sigh and a groan from the officers, but Jackson said nothing.

He smiled, but, as Harry saw it, it was a strange and threatening smile.

Then he opened the dispatch, read it carefully, tore it into tiny bits and threw them away.
Harry saw the fragments picked up by the wind and whirled across the field.